Madlib has told the story in interviews of how he created Quasimoto, aided by some chemicals, as someone to rap on his beats for his own private listening while living in Oxnard CA in the 1990s. These private recordings eventually became The Unseen (2000, Stones Throw).

The visual character of Quasimoto developed separately. It was first drawn by DJ Design (credited as Keith Beats) for Quasimoto’s “Microphone Mathematics” single, representing the three members of Madlib’s group Lootpack. The character was adapted by Jeff Jank for the inner artwork of The Unseen to represent the lyrics for the song “Bad Character,” looking up skirts, passing out poison apples, carrying a brick.

It was the fans of this album that started to identify the character as Quasimoto himself. By the second album, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, it was accepted that the character is Quasimoto, and Madlib even referred to carrying a brick in one of the lyrics.

Jeff Jank says in an interview, “Quasimoto was always Madlib’s creation, but I love the way the visual side has developed. In the years since, Quasimoto has been a toy, a bad tattoo, an internet meme… I keep drawing him, even if Madlib isn’t rapping him anymore.”